REPOWERING

WINDTUNNELS

The Farnborough Wind Tunnels

A New Opportunity for Wind Tunnel Operators

Three of the wind tunnels at the former Royal Aircraft Establishment in Farnborough will shortly beavailable for re-use following recent developments at the site.

Commercial or educational organisations that have a need for a wind tunnel testing facility may findwhat they want in Farnborough.

The Farnborough Business Park

Slough Estates bought the former Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) ‘factory site’ from the Ministry ofDefence when the site was closed in 1999. Slough Estates is now developing the site as FarnboroughBusiness Park. The site is located between Farnborough town centre and London Farnborough Airport,the venue of the biannual air show, and when completed will provide a prime business location for 1.7million square feet of offices.

The historic core of the former RAE is being retained – a 25 acre cluster of wind tunnels and otherresearch buildings, two of which are Grade I listed. Following consultations with stakeholders such asEnglish Heritage, Rushmoor Borough Council and Farnborough Air Sciences Trust (FAST), SloughEstates has obtained planning consent for a £20 million mixed-use urban development project.

Work on this project has already started and completion is currently scheduled for July 2006.Regeneration of the site includes a public square, restoration of research buildings and possiblecommercial use of wind tunnels:

· A new public square, the size of London’s Berkley Square and located at the westernend of the site will have a 70 foot high, 250 foot long airship hangar frame as itscentrepiece.

· The restoration of the historic aviation research buildings will cater for a mix ofuses such as offices and studio workshops, plus new facilities for a heritage centre, amanagement centre, café-bar, meeting rooms and a children’s nursery.

· The commercial use of the wind tunnels. The five historic wind tunnels on the sitewill all be preserved. Three of these are under investigation, as part of a joint projectwith FAST, for possible commercial re-use. An initial study indicates support for such ademand.

Slough Estatesin collaboration with

Farnborough Air Sciences Trust

TheHistoricQuarter

TheResidential

District

TheHub

TheSquare

Farnborough Business ParkSite Plan

The Wind Tunnels

What is on offer

Slough Estates does not intend to become a wind tunnel operator. On the other hand EnglishHeritage has recognised that the best way to preserve historic buildings is to keep them in use –preferably the use for which they were designed. Slough Estates is therefore looking for interestedparties who may want to operate one or more of the tunnels.

The three tunnels now being made available are:

The No.1 tunnel – the 24ft low speed tunnel on building Q121

The No.2 tunnel – the 11½ft x 8½ft low speed tunnel in building R136

The No.3 tunnel – the 4ft x 3ft low turbulence tunnel in building R52

The No.1 tunnel has already been reserved as the proposed site for a National Aerospace Library,sponsored by the Royal Aeronautical Society. A further two tunnels on the site, the 8ft x 6ft and the 2ftx 1½ft transonic tunnels, are not thought to have any commercial future.

The Condition of the Tunnels

Slough Estates’ programme to restore the historic aviation research buildings includes the four buildingsthat contain the historic wind tunnels. By the end of the programme the exteriors of the four buildingswill have been fully refurbished, the services renewed and the surrounding areas landscaped.

However, Slough Estates is not refurbishing the interiors of the buildings: it will be up to individualleaseholders to do this after they have completed any alterations required to accommodate theirspecific needs.

Most of the major items of equipment associated with the tunnels such as the balances, drive motors,lifts and hoists remain in the buildings. Removable items such as calibration equipment, modelsupports and special tools have been catalogued by FAST and have been put in store while thebuilding renovation is in progress.

Services

All of the services in the Historic Quarter are being renewed as part of Slough Estates’ current programmeof work. Domestic electricity supply will be connected to all buildings within the Historic Quarter.Other services will be provided but not connected, which gives future wind tunnel operators thefreedom to carry out internal works on the tunnel buildings to accommodate any specific needs.

Electrical Power

Slough Estates is installing a new 11kV ring main covering the Historic Quarter. This will includesubstations for the 433V domestic supply to each building and also a provision for additional substationsto supply fan motor power for the wind tunnels.

The primary substation to the Business Park has approximately 3MVA spare capacity available topower the wind tunnel fans. This power is sufficient to run simultaneously the No.1 and No.3 tunnelsat full speed and the No.2 tunnel at 82% of full speed.

It will be possible for wind tunnel operators to increase the power available to the wind tunnels bylaying additional circuits from the park’s primary substation. In preparation for this, Slough Estates islaying vacant ducts in the Historic Quarter to allow leaseholders to increase the power supply withminimal disturbance to the hard landscaping.

Wind Tunnels at Farnborough Business Park

Site plan showing the location of the three wind tunnel buildings and layout of services.

Compressed Air

The network of compressed air pipes within the buildings remains intact and given testing and certificationcould be re-used where needed. The large compressors that supplied compressed air to the site andthe air pipes between the buildings are not considered re-usable on economic grounds. FAST believesthat the most effective and economic way to provide compressed air to the wind tunnels will be to usemodern semi-portable equipment, either diesel or electric powered. Slough Estates is providing hardstanding adjacent to the substations of the two large wind tunnel buildings for mobile compressors andother heavy equipment that operators may need to use.

Gas, Water & Foul Drainage

Slough Estates will lay new gas mains, water mains and foul drains throughout the Historic Quarter.The mains and drains will be brought close to the exteriors of the wind tunnel buildings, adjacent toareas within the buildings (highlighted on the site plan below in orange) where operators are likely towant to install WCs, kitchens, etc.

Communications and Intranet

A new communications network and intranet will be laid through the Historic Quarter, extending theexisting network supplying the remainder of the Farnborough Business Park. The communicationsproviders will be British Telecom and Cable & Wireless. The intranet will provide complete coveragethroughout the business Park and will make it possible to connect each building to the park securityoffices for CCTV monitoring or to any other building on the site for communications purposes.

Wind Tunnels at Farnborough Business Park

REPOWERING

WINDTUNNELS

For enquiries and further information,please contact:

Stephen Lord, Senior Development ManagerSlough Estates plc234 Bath RoadSloughBerkshire SL1 4EETel: 01753 213472Email: Stephen.Lord@sloughestates.co.uk

Slough Estatesin collaboration with

Farnborough Air Sciences Trust

Expertise

Re-commissioning the wind tunnels

A technical report which gives potential operators in-depth information about the state of the windtunnels and any work that needs to be done before they can be re-commissioned is available onapplication to Slough Estates. The team that produced the report will be able to provide help andinformation should prospective operators need assistance during the preparations of proposals andbusiness plans.

Operational

There is local expertise in how to operate these tunnels from ex-RAE staff and from QinetiQ, whooperate the ex-RAE five metre tunnel on a site close to Farnborough. FAST holds an archive ofdrawings and reports which may also be of use to future operators.

Leasing

Slough Estates is offering long-term leases (minimum of 10 years) on each of the wind tunnel buildings.Leases are negotiable but tenants will be expected to take full repairing and insuring liability.